


The Mechanics of Things

by DeanPrincesster



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mechanics, Awkward Meetings, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Building Story, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-13 03:17:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10505316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanPrincesster/pseuds/DeanPrincesster
Summary: Jack is the son of the owner of an auto shop. Jack decides to go and give a surprise visit to his dad, only to be surprised himself when he walks in and finds an incredibly attractive man already working. He's new and Jack notes to himself that he really needs to get to know this man sometime soon.





	1. The New Guy

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story. I'm not the best at writing but it's calming to me and I hope you can enjoy it.

Gabriel shifted and grumbled, hand groping around on the nightstand as he reached for the noisy alarm clock. 5:15. Slapping the button on the clock with more force than was necessary, he blinked open his eyes a few times before rolling on to his back and draping a forearm over his eyes. He lay there, motionless and irritated from lack of sleep, having not fallen asleep until 2 in the morning, for another five minutes. Finally, he slowly and groggily sat up and got out of bed. He made his way into the kitchen, silently thanking God for automatic coffee makers, as he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and filled it with the still steaming bean juice.  
  
After he slowly finished his mug of coffee, feeling slightly more awake and human, he padded to the bathroom to relieve himself and shower. Once done, he went into his room, fumbling through the clean laundry in the dresser, to find his favorite shirt and jeans. Grabbing a pair of black boxers and socks, he stepped into the boxer briefs, then the socks. He returned to his bed with the shirt and dark grey jeans in his hand and stepped into the jeans, pulling them up to his hips where they slung low enough to show the elastic band of his black briefs and zipped, then buttoned them up. He reached for the shirt and pulled it over his head, smoothing out the slate grey "Metallica" muscle tee over his chest and stomach.  
  
Comfortably dressed, Gabe walked back to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast of two sunny-side up eggs, toast, and another cup of coffee. After finishing his meal, he placed the dirty dishes in the sink and checked the time on the stove. 6:00. He had another 30 minutes before his shift at the shop. He slipped on and laced his black steel-toe work boots, grabbed his keys, and wallet then left the apartment, locking up behind himself. It took him 25 minutes to drive to work, so he puttered around for a few minutes before clocking in and getting to work. 

______

Jack woke up around 6:15, starting at the sudden loud and obnoxious beeping of his alarm clock. He sleepily got up and out of bed wandering into the bathroom to piss, shower and brush his teeth. He decided to surprise his father at work today, so he grabbed a dark tee shirt, jeans, boxers, and got dressed appropriately for a day at the shop. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and a muffin from Lena's "hidden" stash. They weren't so hidden if they could be seen right behind the flour and sugar. He made a detour to a fast food place nearby, to get an actual breakfast for his father and himself. Once he received his food and paid, he made his way to the auto shop.  
  
Having parked his car and grabbing the greasy food bag, he made his way through the shop, saying "Hello!" or "Good Morning!" to everyone he knew. There was a new guy; tall, dark, and built, today, though. How long has he been here? It's been at least two months since Jack last decided to stop by and help out, so he had to be relatively new. Jack subtly stared for a moment, looking him over before stating, to himself, that he was most definitely pleasing to look at.  
  
The new guy had large arms, a little bigger than Jack's own, with wide shoulders fit for a football player, but maybe even a bit larger. He had a perfectly sculpted torso, so Jack thought. Sizable pecs, more than big enough to fit in Jack's hands, he decided sheepishly, with what he could assume would be an amazing set of "washboard" abs to go along with it. He had, to Jack's dismay, a definitely perfect ass with huge, killer thighs that led to very shapely calves. His skin was mahogany and smooth; when it wasn't covered by light pink scars. Judging from his arms, Jack could only assume that his chest was spattered with fine black hairs, that led to his groin and only got thicker as - Jack, stop.  
  
Flushing brightly, Jack declared to himself that he definitely needed to get to know this man. Maybe he should... But first, breakfast. With that, he walked to his father's office, which was empty; checking the clock and noting that it was 2 minutes to 7. He sat down in the large chair behind the desk, got his food out of the bag, and waited for his dad to show up as he began eating.  


______

Gabe was aware that he was being stared at and it made him a little uncomfortable. Normally, whenever he was getting stared at, it was because someone had a problem with him. Let it be for his skin color or something he said, getting stared at was nothing good for him. Which is why, when he turned to glance at the lean, golden-haired boy with the body of a runner slash football player, he was caught off guard by the look in his eyes.  
  
Jack was unaware that he was staring at Gabriel with the look of shock, adoration, and want in his eyes. By the time Jack came back to himself, Gabe had already turned and looked away again. Gabe felt his face heat up at the look of sheer need in the kid’s eyes, quickly turning to grab the tool he needed in order to finish what he was prompted to do. He busied himself with his work while he struggled to comprehend the expression on the blond’s face. Gabe has never been on the receiving end of that kind of look before.  
  
Gabriel always got looks of fear, disgust, and anger by those who looked at him, because of his size, the way he talked and joked, and the sassy, asshole-ish way he treated others. He was fine with it, though, because he was by no means a “people’s person,” almost always choosing to be alone than to talk to others or have company. No one liked him anyway, except for the few friends he did have and even then, sometimes they didn’t even like him because he was an asshole.  
  
In his late teens, he made peace with the fact that most people did not want to hang out with him, and later decided that it was for the better because he could go and do as he pleased, without having to worry about the way someone else felt for the things he did. Which is why, when he looked at Jack and noticed the different emotions mixed in his baby blue eyes, seeing many _except_ the shitty ones he was used to, he got flustered and needed to turn and look away from the eyes that he wanted to, already, get lost in and study for hours.


	2. How Pretty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Gabe finally meet, under awkward circumstances of their own doing.

After becoming somewhat smitten with the new guy, Jack made a point to start helping out at the shop whenever he had the chance after school. The last time, he kept telling himself to stop being a wuss and talk to the new guy. Each time, he would talk end up talking himself out of it. “What if he tells me to fuck off?” “What if he finds me annoying?” “What if I get ignored?” So many what-ifs. Jack was never good about rejection, so he would try to make it a point to try not to get rejected. At this point, he would take what he could get from this guy. He was just really, really pretty to look at. Jack wasn’t even sure if he was gay.  
  
Now, he was leaning against a nearby wall, casually watching Gabe as he set to work on the latest vehicle. He liked the way he moved, with purpose and with power, almost as if he owned the place. He fit in well. He was confident about his movements, like he knew exactly what he was doing, which, he should hope that he knew exactly what he was doing, he was being paid to correctly fix someone’s vehicle.  
  
Jack pushed himself off the wall with his shoulder, walking over to the truck that Gabe was working on, after steeling himself to man up and talk to him. He leaned on the side of it, his gaze purposely glued to Gabe’s hand, under the guise of studying what he was doing, when in reality it was to keep from staring at his face or staring into his eyes and making a fool of himself. Once he realized the large hands had completely stopped moving, he looked up to find himself being watched with slightly narrowed brown, almost black, eyes.  
  
Jack found himself staring right back, just watching the other man’s face. God, he was even prettier close up. He had two small scars on the left side of his face, one on the bridge of his nose, one tiny one on his right cheek, and another decent sized one on the left side of his bottom lip. His lips were thick and plush, surrounded by a perfectly trimmed, thick goatee. Jack just wanted to put his hand on the man’s cheek and run his thumb over the flawless cheekbones, over his bottom lip, then kiss him until his own lips were pink and swollen from rough needy kisses. He was falling for this man, falling hard, and he’s barely even seen him for more than 2 weeks, let alone didn’t even know him.

_____

Gabe looked up as the blond leaned against the side of the pick up truck he was working on. He didn’t notice just _how_ blue his eyes were. It was like looking at the perfect sky blue ocean water at a beach in the Bahamas. Oh.. that was really cliché, but really true. They were beautiful. He stared as the blond stared at his hands. Gabe took the opportunity to really get a good look at him.  
  
He was tall, about the same height as Gabe. He had messy bleach-blond hair, as if he spent all of his time outside. His shoulders were wide, like a quarterback’s, but not overly so. He had arms almost the size of his own, but not quite as big, he noted smugly. His wide shoulders and his wide chest tapered down to a thin waist, which led to his slightly wider hips. He had runner’s legs, a perfect mix between thick and thin. His thighs were nicely muscled, hugged snugly by his pants, and they led to sharp calves, or so he would assume, since the legs of his pants flared out at the knee.  
  
By the time Gabe returned his gaze up to his face, he noticed his own was being focused on. He slightly narrowed his eyes, only to try, and hopefully drive him away, though, with no such luck. He watched the slightly thin lips curve up at the corners, into a soft, gentle smile. Gabe narrowed his eyes a bit further, trying not to smile right back. It was contagious. He wanted nothing more than to smile back at him. It took everything he had to not smile back.  
  
He watched those entrancing blue eyes study and roam around his face. He couldn’t help but feel scrutinized, but just like the first time he caught this Captain America wannabe staring at him, he couldn’t see any negative emotions in those pretty eyes. He watched many different emotions flicker through them, but was unable to place which ones they were. He frowned. He didn’t like not knowing. Not knowing made Gabe uncomfortable because he was normally incredibly good at figuring things out. His logic skill was great.

_____

Jack tilted his head some, slightly conflicted that his smile was met with a small scowl. Usually his smiles were returned with equal tenderness or enthusiasm. It confused him that he was given a small frown instead, but it only made his commitment to befriend this guy even stronger. Maybe he could break the wall he seemed to have around himself? It shouldn’t take long. Jack is good at making friends.  
  
Gabe kept his scowl as he tilted his own head back at Jack, his gruff voice being the first to finally, finally break the silence between them. It’s been almost 5 minutes since Jack first leaned against the truck. “What do you want?” He asked, almost sounding irritated. Jack looked taken aback for a moment before he schooled his features back into a relaxed state, “I just wanted to ask your name. You’re new here,” he thumbed in the general direction of the bosses office, “Did my father just recently hire you?”  
  
Now it was Gabriel’s turn to look shocked because _this hot blond kid is the bosses son?_ He was suddenly wary, not wanting his small crush on the bosses kid to be noticed, lest he lose his job. He liked his job, he would rather keep it, thank you very much. So, he chose to nod in answer to the question, answering with a gruff, “Yes. Last month,” and leaving it at that. Jack just blinked at the short, simple answer, but decided to nod back before thrusting his hand out, “Welcome to the team, then.”


	3. Friends yet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter really kicked my butt. Between the lack of sleep and school, I'm having trouble focusing on this. It should get better eventually, so I apologize in advance if this is really all over the place(like it seems to be, personally.)
> 
> This chapter also takes place a few weeks or a month after chapter 2, once they started getting a bit more comfortable with each other's company.

Jack started going to the shop after school or on his days off more often now, as if he actually worked there. He would help his friend, Jesse, clean up(as best as possible) all the grease and oil stains on the concrete floor of the shop. Jack took to calling this his job for now. His father didn’t seem to mind, he knew his crew could use the help. What Jack’s father did seem to mind, though, were the looks that the new Reyes kid was giving his son on an almost daily basis when he thought no one was looking. He understood that Reyes probably had a crush on his son, many people did, regardless of gender, his son was attractive and he was proud about it. It just meant that he was too, since Jack looked more like him than his mother, so it seemed to boost his father’s ego just a tad.  
  
What bothered him about it was the way Reyes stared when he was elbow deep in the organs of a truck or a car and got distracted for up to a minute at a time. One minute was all it took for a devastating accident to happen and he couldn’t afford an accident of that caliber nor did he want one to happen to anyone in his crew, regardless of how long they’ve been there. His crew were his family and he took it very seriously. He especially liked this new kid because he did his job and he did it well. He very rarely talked back or needed to ask what to do and he was happy about that. Everyone else, like Jesse or Torbjörn, would give him backlash or sass for something he asked them to do.  
  
For now, he would just ignore the fact that Reyes was ogling his son. Despite the staring, Reyes was doing absolutely nothing wrong so Jack’s father had no reason to actually be upset with him. If his ogling got him or someone else hurt, he would step in and say something about it. He did notice that Reyes got a little distracted when Jack was around him, fumbled with his tools and made small mistakes but it amused him. Today was no different, every time he glanced through the window of his office and into the body shop, he saw Jack hovering around Reyes’ station and watched as Reyes dropped a few tools or a bolt here and there. Each time he saw it happen, it just made him chuckle and shake his head.

_____

Jack walked up and clapped Gabe on the shoulder, his hand’s warmth filtered through the short sleeve of Gabriel’s shirt. Gabe started softly, not expecting the touch, considering he didn’t even realize that Jack was near him, having been busy trying to figure out what was wrong with the vehicle in front of him. Jack accidentally-an honest accident-slid his hand down his arm before he realized what he did and pulled his hand away, but the damage was already done. The lingering touch flustered Gabe even more than the usual stares did, though, it was to be expected. Gabriel froze and tensed up, his fingers tightening around the part of the vehicle that he was holding on to.  
  
Jack noticed as soon as Gabe tensed under his touch and he couldn’t help the slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. Instead of apologizing, his hand returned to Gabe’s form, but instead of his arm, his hand rested on his lower back. Jack watched intently, focusing on his face and watched as Gabe’s features became obscured by a slight blush across his cheeks, nose, and the tips of his ears. Gabe turned his head to Jack kept his head down, only raising his head enough to look at the blond, hoping the shadows would help hide the heat he felt on his face. “Can I help you, Jack?” Gabe asked tentatively.  
  
Jack tilted his head ever so slightly, before smiling widely, showing off all of his perfect, white teeth. “Nope. Can I help you?” He asked softly, almost cautiously, as if Gabe was a wild animal that would panic at the slightest action he thought threatening. As Gabe’s eyes narrowed, Jack’s smile never faltered but his head tilted back upright to a normal position. Gabe eventually nodded, “Yeah, I guess,” he replied softly, awkwardly, as if he was unsure if he should actually let Jack stay around him in fear of fucking something up. He was positive that if Jack stared at him too long or said something outside of casual conversation about his job or what exactly it was he was working on, that he would indeed screw something up.  
  
As time passed and Jack stayed around, Gabriel slowly but eventually got used to his presence being around and even got a bit more comfortable around the blond. “ _He isn’t so bad, I expected worse from him. Maybe stuck up?_ ” Gabe thought to himself, before shaking his head at the idea of this guy being anything but super nice and goofy. Gabe found it easier and easier to act like his normal self the longer he stuck around. Jack would occasionally bump into Gabe’s shoulder along with the beat of whatever song was playing on the radio that one of the other mechanics had turned on, laughing especially hard when he made Gabe drop something, and Gabe couldn’t find it in himself to be mad or upset but found himself laughing along instead.  
  
By the end of Gabe’s shift, he found himself asking if Jack would like to hang out sometime out side of work. Jack only beamed and nodded before asking, “Sure! Lunch? Dinner? Or…?” Gabe shrugged, “Whatever works best for you. I don’t normally do anything after work.” Jack nodded and handed his phone to Gabe, who then input his own phone number into the blond’s mobile. Jack sent Gabe a quick message so Gabe had his number as well.

  


____

The two ended up going to Jack’s apartment for dinner since Jack offered to cook supper. “I live with my best friend from school, by the way. So don’t be too surprised if a skinny little British girl comes bounding in and demanding who you are,” Jack laughed softly. Gabe chuckled softly, before nodding, “Alright, thanks for the heads up.” Jack made his way into the kitchen and rooted around in the fridge for two beers, opening them both and handing one off to Gabe, who automatically took a swig from it. He sighed softly, enjoying the feel of the cold drink down his throat. “This is perfect after a long day of work,” he held up the drink as a gesture, before nodding to Jack in thanks.  
  
Jack nodded back, “No problem.” Jack took his own drink before he put the bottle down and pulled out a box of pasta, a can of sauce, and chicken. He turned on the burner for the pan that was already on the stove, letting it heat up before he turned around and searched in the cupboards for a pot. He smiled at Gabe as he turned back towards the stove, catching his gaze for a moment before getting the food prepared to be cooked. “You know, you don’t need to stay in the kitchen, you can go watch TV or something. Make yourself at home,” he said, clearly amused.  
  
Jack watched as Gabe’s head tilted, before laughing as Gabriel shrugged, “I don’t mind. I would like to hang out with you more. Even outside of work.” He added the thought, ‘because I think you’re really hot and I want to make you mine,’ to the end of the sentence but refused to say it aloud. Jack smiled warmly, nodding his head softly, “So would I. I quite enjoy your company, you’re really fun to have around.” He said, softly, as if his confession would startle the other man. Jack kept his gaze locked on the food that was being cooked, careful not to burn it, and to make sure he didn’t stare at Gabriel too much. Even though he really wanted to, just to see the others reaction at his statement.  
  
He hoped he didn’t come off too weird, so he busied himself with stirring the pasta and flipping the chicken. Once confident that none of it would burn or stick, he turned to look at Gabe, whose face was a gentle shade of red. Gabe was staring at him sheepishly, his right hand coming up to scratch idly at the back of his neck before he quickly adverted his gaze. “Really? You… think I’m fun?” He sounded almost startled, before he cleared his throat and willed his voice to return to normal which didn’t quite work, instead just raising his pitch up an octave. Jack blinked, taken aback by how nervous he looked and sounded, quickly schooling his features back to a warm, gentle smile. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I? You’re funny, sassy, and really h-…attractive.” His voice wavered a little as he almost slipped up on his words, taking a quick break to finish his sentence in a way that wouldn’t be too obvious.  
  


_____

Gabe was slightly shocked. Not many people enjoyed his company, let alone wanted to spend any more than 5 minutes in his presence. So naturally, he was surprised. He found that it didn’t bother him as much as he expected it to. Instead, he found that he liked the idea. It took him a moment to realize that he had fallen completely silent and had taken to blankly staring at Jack. His hand raised back to his neck as he scratched at it again, before smiling and chuckling sheepishly.  
  
“I think I like that idea.” He watched Jack’s eyes light up in delight and couldn’t help but smile brightly in response.  
  
“Awesome!” Jack seemed to bounce over to him and pull him into a loose embrace, giving him the chance to step away if he felt the need to.  
  
Gabe blinked before he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Jack’s waist as he felt the others arms wrap, move-ably, around his neck. Just as he started to melt into the gentle grasp, the front door slammed open, startling them both. Jack jumped in Gabe’s arms, before huffing out a laugh and dropping his head against the others shoulder. “Lena! You scared me!” His voice was noticeably shaky with laughter despite being muffled by the others chest. Gabe couldn’t find it in himself to be upset but found himself chuckling along with Jack, having gotten startled by the abrupt entrance as well.


End file.
